1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to universal mounting plates and particularly to a universal mounting plate intended for mounting industrial emergency unit fixtures to a variety of substrates and support structures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Luminaire fixtures intended for use in industrial environments take a variety of configurations which provide illumination of desirable efficiency and photometric distributions. These fixtures must be mounted in a manner which provides for positive and essentially permanent placement of the fixtures in desired locations of the industrial environment. Industrial emergency unit fixtures, as well as other fixtures, must be mounted in the industrial environment at particular locations as normally required by code in order to meet specific safety requirements. Since such fixtures must be mounted at particular locations within the industrial environment, it is essential that the fixtures be mountable to whatever structure is available at the necessary mounting locations. While it is often possible to mount an emergency unit fixture directly to a wall or to a ceiling, it is necessary to be able to mount such fixtures to poles, piping, columns, concrete beams and even metal framing systems, such as Unistrut frameworks, Unistrut being a trademark of the Unistrut Corporation of Houston, Tex. Such mounting must be positive and essentially permanent for reasons of safety and further must be amenable to rapid installation without requirement for modification of the fixture or of the structure to which the fixture is to be mounted. Industrial fixtures and particularly emergency fixtures which typically carry batteries internally of a fixture housing can be of substantial weight and therefore must be securely mounted at heights above the floor of an industrial environment so that the fixtures can perform intended functions such as providing illumination during emergency conditions, power outages and the like. Such heavy fixtures mounted above a floor of an environmental space must be positively held at mounting locations in order to prevent accidental dislodgment of such fixtures from mounting locations to thereby cause an extreme safety hazard.
While luminaire fixtures per se and particularly industrial emergency unit fixtures cannot be designed to enable direct mounting to walls, poles, columns and the like through direct use of fixture housings per se, it is possible to facilitate mounting of such fixtures by use of apparatus having so-called universal mounting application, such mounting apparatus having mounting holes formed therein which meet standards of the National Electric Code. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,948, Malola describes an adjustable mounting plate which assists in supporting and balancing a luminaire fixture in a desired orientation, the mounting plate being capable of connection to a variety of luminaire housings and a variety of supporting structure existing in an industrial environment. However, the prior art does not provide a mounting plate structure which can be rapidly mounted to virtually any structure existing in an industrial environment and wherein a luminaire fixture, particularly an industrial emergency unit fixture, can then be rapidly and positively connected to the mounting plate in order to provide positive, safe and reliable mounting of such fixtures at or in virtually any location within the industrial environment. Further, the mounting device of the invention can be mounted to poles both round and square in section, I-beams, structural columns and the like as well as flat walls and even to UNISTRUT mounting apparatus of known configuration, the fixture itself then being directly mounted to the invention in a manner which is rapidly installable while assuring safety. Mounting of a fixture to the mounting device of the invention is accomplished by the provision of relatively simple structure on the fixtures per se for engagement of the fixtures to the mounting device of the invention, thereby allowing mounting of luminaire fixtures as aforesaid within an industrial environment in a manner which is safe, reliable and flexible as to location due to the variety of structure to which the invention allows mounting of luminaire fixtures.